A Trory Story?
by Christine Writer
Summary: Dean cheats on Rory and she goes to Tristin for support. But did he really cheat? Possible Trory, but maybe at the end it will turn out RoryDean.
1. A Cheater?

"Hey, Dean?" Rory Gilmore picked up a paper that had fallen from her boyfriend Dean Forester's jacket. "What's this?" Dean turned whiter than a sheet. "Uh, that's, um, nothing." Dean tried unsuccessfully to snatch the pink paper from Rory. It was well-worn, as if Dean had read it over and over multiple times.

Rory dashed into Luke's Diner and behind the counter. Dean tried to follow her, but was stopped by Luke, who didn't like Dean in the first place. Rory read the note.

_Dear Dean,_

_It seems like you have girl problems. I wanted to tell you that after our long talk the other night (my mom was ready to kill me we talked for so long!) I thought about what you said and I am glad you have decided not to cheat on your girlfriend. Hope this note helps!_

_Ashleigh_

Rory stared in disbelief at the note. It was penned beautifully, and Rory's heart skipped a beat. Who was Ashleigh?

"Rory, it's not what you think it is." Dean said in a controlled voice.

"What is it then?"

"Well—" Dean started.

"No. Never mind—I don't want to hear some excuse. Goodbye, Dean, we are officially over. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"It's not like that, Rory!"

Luke grabbed Dean by the collar and dragged him out of the diner and into the street. Dean swung wildly and struck Luke in the eye. Luke returned the punch, which calmed Dean down enough for Luke to drag him all the way through town to the Forester's house. There, he told Dean's parents that Dean was no longer welcome at Luke's Diner.


	2. It Always Looks Better In The Morning

Rory stormed into the house. She speed dialed Lane. 

"Hello?" Mrs. Kim answered.

"Hi, Mrs. Kim, this is Rory. May I talk to Lane?" Rory tried to mask her anger towards Dean from Mrs. Kim, but was unsuccessful.

"Rory, you sound angry. What is wrong?"

"It's a long story."

"Lane isn't available at the moment. I have time for a long story."

Rory was surprised to find herself spilling everything to Mrs. Kim. Mentally, Rory could see Mrs. Kim shaking her head. "That boy was no good from the start." Mrs. Kim said somberly. "I will put Lane on now."

Lane took the phone from her mother and entered her room before talking to Rory. "What's up?" she asked. "I am in the parent-free zone."

"It doesn't matter--I just told your mom about it."

"About what?"

"I found a note from some girl named Ashleigh to Dean. I think he's been cheating on me."

"No! Oh my gosh, Rory!" Lane was shocked. Dean practically worshipped the ground Rory walked on. It had to be a misunderstanding.

"Well, yeah."

"I have to go now, Rory, but can we get together at Luke's after school tomorrow?"

"Sure. Thanks for listening."

"It had to have been pretty bad for you to spill that to my mother. What was her reaction?"

"She just said 'That boy was no good from the start.' And then she gave you the phone."

"That's weird. You'd think she'd admonish you about dating in the first place."

"Maybe she was just tired. I know I am."

"Goodnight, Rory. Get some sleep."

"I'll try."

"One thing my mother always says--'Everything always looks better in the morning.' I guess she's right."

"Let's hope so." Rory and Lane exchanged goodbyes and hung up. 


	3. What About Summer?

A/N: Pretend that Dean and Rory broke up on a Thursday, and the party was the following night, not the following week. Thanks!

"Hey, Mary!" Tristin Dougrey greeted Rory as she approached her locker at Chilton the next day. She realized with dismay that he was leaning against it. "You're blocking my locker." Rory told Tristin tersely.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Tristin observed.

"I just had a bad evening last night. Go away."

"What, did you and the Hulk break up?" Tristin asked jokingly.

Tears came to Rory's eyes and she nodded miserably. "Oh, Rory." Tristin was genuinely shocked and instantly sorry that they had broken up and that he had said anything about it. He offered her a hug and at first, she shook her head. Then she accepted.

She cried into his blazer, comforted by his warmth and friendliness. "He…he cheated on me." Rory said, muffled by his blazer. Tristin shook his head and rocked Rory back and forth. Why would anyone cheat on someone as sweet and dedicated as Rory? Something just didn't add up.

"Hey, Rory?" Tristin released her from his arms. "I know you probably don't feel like it, but would you like to come to the party at Madeline's tonight with me?"

"What about Summer?" Rory just realized that he was still attached to Summer Kingsley and he shouldn't have hugged her.

"Ah, Summer. She's still my girlfriend, isn't she?"

"Yeah, I am. You better have a good excuse for this scenario." A voice came from behind Tristin. It was Summer, and she had seen everything.


	4. Summer Dumped Me

Rory and Lane approached the party with trepidation. Rory had invited Lane because she needed to get out of the house, but she needed someone who she knew well and who knew her well along for support.

Rory felt a bit lightheaded as she entered the party and saw Madeline and Louise. "Hey! You came!" Madeline greeted her. "Are you ready to party?" It seemed to Rory like Madeline had come up with the canned greeting because it was easy enough to remember when she wasn't able to walk a straight line anymore. "Sure." Rory said. "I'm thirsty." Madeline pointed in one direction and Louise in another. "Over there." they said in unison, then giggled. Rory shook her head and began to question why she had come.

She saw Lane dancing with Henry Cho, a Korean guy in Rory's literature class. Rory pulled her latest book, "My Antonia," out of her purse. She found an empty room, miraculously, and then sat down to read her book. She was deep into the novel when someone entered the room. It was Tristin. His eyes were a bit bloodshot, and he looked like he had been kicked while he was down.

"Hi." he greeted Rory dejectedly, sitting down on the piano bench next to Rory. "Hey." she replied sympathetically. "What's wrong?"

"Summer dumped me."

"Ah." Rory had sort of expected this, but not this soon.

"King Tristin has been dethroned. Are you happy now?" he asked in a tired voice.

"No, I'm not happy about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Why aren't you happy? I thought that you didn't like me; that the world would be a better place if I fell off the face of it."

Rory was saddened that although Tristin was a little to presumptuous and arrogant for his own good, he believed that others hated him that much.

"The world would have been a better place if say, Adolph Hitler had fallen off the face of it, but not you, Tristin. You underestimate yourself."

"Really? Or are you saying that because you're just a nice person?"

"Tristin, I meant it. This is how people become suicidal. They degrade themselves and tell themselves they're not worth it. That they deserve to die. And it's just not true." Rory realized now that Tristin's face was dangerously close to hers. Did he intend to kiss her?

He did indeed. And the odd thing was, as their lips met, that she didn't pull away. 


	5. Major Guy Stuff

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

As Tristin pulled away first, dozens of thoughts were running through Rory's mind. Was it too soon after Dean? What would her mother think? Almost more importantly, what would Paris think? Everyone at school knew that Paris had a thing for Tristin. And he had just kissed Rory. The worst part of all, Rory felt like she had kissed him back!

They sat there for a moment. Rory was utterly frozen. Tristin didn't know what to think. He was almost in as much shock as Rory. He took her hand in his. "Do you want to try this?" he asked outright. 

"What?" Rory became unfrozen.

"Do you want to try a relationship?"

"I...I don't know." she said honestly. And it was true. 

The next morning, Rory dragged Loralei out of bed at an unholy hour--9:00--and announced that she had some major guy stuff that she needed Loralei to help her with.

Loralei groaned. "I can see it now..." she said, squeezing her eyes shut against the bright sunlight. "Thirty something beautiful mother kills sixteen-year-old annoying daughter."

"I have major guy stuff!"

"What kind of guy stuff?"

"Last night, you know I went to Madeline's party."

"Yeah."

"Well, Tristin was there."

Loralei nodded mechanically. Maybe if she nodded she could get away with nodding off to sleep.

"And we were in a room alone...and we kissed."

Loralei suddenly looked very much awake. "What?"

"We...kissed."

"You kissed someone other than Dean?"

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of?" Rory was confused now. "Well, he kissed me and then I half-kissed him back."

"Rory," Loralei said, "You can never half-kiss a guy back. You either do or you don't."

"Well, then I guess I kissed him back. It happened really fast."

"What happened then?"

"Well, Tristin asked outright if I wanted to try a relationship with him."

"He did? That's weird! What did you say?"

"I said I didn't know."

"Good answer. But do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want to date Tristin?"

"I don't know!" Rory was exasperated. She didn't know if she was ready for a relationship. She thought about Dean for a long minute or two. Had she jumped to a conclusion? What if Ashleigh was Dean's cousin or something? Rory would feel really stupid if that was the case.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number she knew almost better than her own. 


	6. Ashleigh Again?

"Hello?" the voice on the other end of the line said.

"Hi, Dean." Rory said softly.

"Rory?" his voice contained masked hope, and surprisingly, no anger.

"Yeah. It's me." Rory paused. "Dean, who is Ashleigh?"

"She's my cousin."

"Okay; why did she say she was glad you had decided not to cheat on me?"

"Well, we had a very long talk on the phone, during which I said I had a girlfriend and she said that I had to make the decision now not to ever even toy with the idea of cheating on you, or else I would be tempted to. I made that decision, and she said that she would send me a note to remind me of the decision. I was afraid that if I explained it to you that you would have thought it was weird and that I was weird by association, and so you would dump me. Does that make sense?" Dean answered his own question. "It did at the time, but it doesn't now."

"Wow." Rory slowly processed all of this information. And her heart sank when she realized that he hadn't told her because he loved her. And here she was kissing another guy!

Her heart was fighting her mind as she took a deep breath and confessed, "Dean, last night I kissed Tristin."

Dean paused. "And...?" he prompted.

"Aren't you mad that I kissed another guy?"

"No...we were broken up." Dean said. "I'm a little jealous, but not mad."

Dean was so sweet! Rory couldn't believe she had believed that he had cheated on her.

"So...can we try this again?" Rory said softly into the phone.

"I will if you will." he agreed.

"Yay!" Rory cried involuntarily. "Meet me at Luke's for breakfast?"

"Sure. Race you there!" he hung up, shaking his head at Rory's reaction to his agreement.

Rory reached Luke's before Dean, because she had her car and he had to take out all of the trash bags in his house before his mom let him go.

Rory sat at her usual table. "Blueberry pancakes and one coffee, please!" she called to Luke over the breakfast crowd. He served her quickly and as she began to eat her pancakes, she saw him turn red, then white. She assumed that Taylor was doing something insane as usual as Luke rushed out of the diner.

She happened to turn as Luke closed the door, and she was just in time to see Luke coming to blows with Dean! She ran outside and after a few minutes managed to break up the fight. "Luke!" she gasped. "I didn't tell you!"

"Tell me what? That this clown was about to come into the diner?"

"Well, that we got back together this morning!"

"Oh." 


	7. The Final Chapter

As the weeks progressed, Rory and Dean grew closer and closer than ever, rebuilding slowly the relationship that had been destroyed when Rory found the note. "Dean, I'm so sorry that I doubted you for a second." Rory apologized again for the dozenth time as she got on the bus to Hartford on Monday morning.

"It's okay; I should have told you."

"Bye!" she kissed him quickly on the cheek and the doors of the bus closed, and Dean turned to go to the high school.

At school, Tristin was again waiting for Rory, leaning against her locker.

"Hi," she greeted him softly. She felt really bad, but she had to let him down gently.

"Hey." He smiled. "You're looking a bit happier today--something good happen over the weekend?" he hinted. 

"Yeah--Dean and I...um...we got back together this weekend." she said quietly.

"Ah." he nodded. "I figured as much. So what changed?"

"I discovered that the girl who wrote Dean the note was his cousin. You could say that I feel pretty stupid right now."

"I'm glad you're happy." he started to walk away from her.

"Tristin!" she called after him. He turned.

"You'll find the right girl soon."

He smiled wryly and shook his head. "See you later, Mary!"

A few weeks later, Luke's nephew Jess blew into town from New York City. As she saw Dean throwing Jess death glares across the diner, Loralei shook her head. "Here we go again!" she thought.

THE END! 


End file.
